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A lot of the things mentioned in this article we get to in our Youth Karate Program – The main thing for everyone young and old alike is to keep moving – A body in motion is likely to stay in motion! The simple pleasure of moving your body is one of the secrets of a long, happy and healthy life….better to learn that important lesson early in life!

One of the main purposes of T’ai-Chi, Bagua, Standing Meditation and Qigong is to increase and evenly distribute blood flow (oxygen) to the brain through proven techniques like: Taoist Longevity Breathing, proper alignment of the bone structure, relaxed (Sung) and open (Peng) body musculature and slow even movements. The practices also reduce the amount of stress and strain on the joints, muscles, nervous system (s) and brain, by inducing a calm and relaxed state of mind (meditation) that will lead to clearer and more lucid thinking….. perhaps even increasing one’s mental abilities??? This article seems to think so! Read on…….

“What goes on inside your brain when you exercise? That questionhas preoccupied a growing number of scientists in recent years, aswell as many of us who exercise. In the late 1990s, Dr. Fred Gageand his colleagues at the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institutein San Diego elegantly proved that human and animal brainsproduce new brain cells (a process called neurogenesis) and thatexercise increases neurogenesis. The brains of mice and rats thatwere allowed to run on wheels pulsed with vigorous, newly bornneurons, and those animals then breezed through mazes and othertests of rodent I.Q., showing that neurogenesis improves thinking.But how, exactly, exercise affects the staggeringly intricate workingsof the brain at a cellular level has remained largely mysterious. Anumber of new studies, though, including work published thismonth by Mr. Gage and his colleagues, have begun to tease out thespecific mechanisms and, in the process, raised new questions aboutjust how exercise remolds the brain.Some of the most reverberant recent studies were performed atNorthwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.There, scientists have been manipulating the levels of bonemorphogeneticprotein or BMP in the brains of laboratory mice.BMP, which is found in tissues throughout the body, affects cellulardevelopment in various ways, some of them deleterious. In thebrain, BMP has been found to contribute to the control of stem celldivisions. Your brain, you will be pleased to learn, is packed withadult stem cells, which, given the right impetus, divide anddifferentiate into either additional stem cells or baby neurons. As weage, these stem cells tend to become less responsive. They don’tdivide as readily and can slump into a kind of cellular sleep. It’sBMP that acts as the soporific, says Dr. Jack Kessler, the chairmanof neurology at Northwestern and senior author of many of therecent studies. The more active BMP and its various signals are inyour brain, the more inactive your stem cells become and the lessneurogenesis you undergo. Your brain grows slower, less nimble,older.But exercise countermands some of the numbing effects of BMP, Dr.Kessler says. In work at his lab, mice given access to running wheelshad about 50 percent less BMP-related brain activity within a week.They also showed a notable increase in Noggin, a beautifully namedbrain protein that acts as a BMP antagonist. The more Noggin inyour brain, the less BMP activity exists and the more stem celldivisions and neurogenesis you experience. Mice at Northwesternwhose brains were infused directly with large doses of Nogginbecame, Dr. Kessler says, “little mouse geniuses, if there is such athing.” They aced the mazes and other tests.Whether exercise directly reduces BMP activity or increasesproduction of Noggin isn’t yet known and may not matter. Theresults speak for themselves. “If ever exercise enthusiasts wanted arationale for what they’re doing, this should be it,” Dr. Kessler says.Exercise, he says, through a complex interplay with Noggin andBMP, helps to ensure that neuronal stem cells stay lively and newbrain cells are born.But there are caveats and questions remaining, as the newestexperiment from Dr. Gage’s lab makes clear. In that study,published in the most recent issue of Cell Stem Cell, BMP signalingwas found to be playing a surprising, protective role for the brain’sstem cells. For the experiment, stem cells from mouse brains weretransferred to petri dishes and infused with large doses of Noggin,hindering BMP activity. Without BMP signals to inhibit them, thestem cells began dividing rapidly, producing hordes of new neurons.But over time, they seemed unable to stop, dividing and dividingagain until they effectively wore themselves out. The same reactionoccurred within the brains of living (unexercised) mice given largedoses of Noggin. Neurogenesis ramped way up, then, after severalweeks, sputtered and slowed. The “pool of active stem cells wasdepleted,” a news release accompanying the study reported. Anoverabundance of Noggin seemed to cause stem cells to wearthemselves out, threatening their ability to make additional neuronsin the future.This finding raises the obvious and disturbing question: can youoverdose on Noggin by, for instance, running for hours, amping upyour production of the protein throughout? The answer, Dr. Gagesays, is, almost certainly, no. “Many people have been looking into”that issue, he says. But so far, “there has not been any instance of anegative effect from voluntary running” on the brain health of mice.Instead, he says, it seems that the effects of exercise are constrainedand soon plateau, causing enough change in the activity of Nogginand BMP to shake slumbering adult stem cells awake, but notenough to goose them into exhausting themselves.Still, if there’s not yet any discernible ceiling on brain-healthyexercise, there is a floor. You have to do something. Walk, jog, swim,pedal — the exact amount or intensity of the exercise required hasnot been determined, although it appears that the minimum isblessedly low. In mice, Mr. Gage says, “even a fairly short period” ofexercise “and a short distance seems to produce results”

Tai chi is often described as “meditation in motion,” but it might well be called “medication in motion.” There is growing evidence that this mind-body practice, which originated in China as a martial art, has value in treating or preventing many health problems.

Tai chi is easy to learn and you can get started even if you aren’t in top shape or the best of health. In this low-impact, slow-motion exercise, you go without pausing through a series of motions named for animal actions or martial arts moves. As you move, you breathe deeply and naturally, focusing your attention — as in some kinds of meditation — on your bodily sensations.

Tai chi differs from other types of exercise in several ways. The movements are never forced, the muscles are relaxed rather than tensed, the joints are not fully extended or bent, and connective tissues are not stretched. Tai chi can be easily adapted for anyone, from the most fit to people confined to wheelchairs or recovering from surgery.

Tai chi in motion:

A tai chi class might include these parts:Warm-up. Easy motions, such as shoulder circles, turning the head from side to side, or rocking back and forth, help you to loosen your muscles and joints and focus on your breath and body.

Instruction and practice of tai chi forms:

Short forms — forms are sets of movements — may include a dozen or fewer movements; long forms may include hundreds. Different styles require smaller or larger movements. A short form with smaller, slower movements is usually recommended at the beginning, especially if you’re older or not in good condition.

Qigong (or chi kung):

Translated as “breath work” or “energy work,” this consists of a few minutes of gentle breathing sometimes combined with movement. The idea is to help relax the mind and mobilize the body’s energy. Qigong may be practiced standing, sitting, or lying down.

No pain, big gains:

Although tai chi is slow and gentle and doesn’t leave you breathless, it addresses the key components of fitness — muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and, to a lesser degree, aerobic conditioning.

Here’s some of the evidence:

Muscle strength:

In a 2006 study published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Stanford University researchers reported benefits of tai chi in 39 women and men, average age 66, with below-average fitness and at least one cardiovascular risk factor. After taking 36 tai chi classes in 12 weeks, they showed improvement in both lower-body strength and upper-body strength. In a Japanese study using the same strength measures, 113 older adults were assigned to different 12-week exercise programs, including tai chi, brisk walking, and resistance training. People who did tai chi improved more than 30% in lower-body strength and 25% in arm strength — almost as much as those who participated in resistance training, and more than those assigned to brisk walking.“Although you aren’t working with weights or resistance bands, the unsupported arm exercise involved in tai chi strengthens your upper body,” says internist Dr. Gloria Yeh, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. “Tai chi strengthens both the lower and upper extremities and also the core muscles of the back and abdomen.”

Flexibility:

Women in the 2006 Stanford study significantly boosted upper- and lower-body flexibility as well as strength.

— the ability to sense the position of one’s body in space — declines with age. Tai chi helps train this sense, which is a function of sensory neurons in the inner ear and stretch receptors in the muscles and ligaments. Tai chi also improves muscle strength and flexibility, which makes it easier to recover from a stumble.

Aerobic conditioning:

Depending on the speed and size of the movements, tai chi can provide some aerobic benefits. But in the Japanese study, only participants assigned to brisk walking gained much aerobic fitness. If your clinician advises a more intense cardio workout with a higher heart rate than tai chi can offer, you may need something more aerobic as well.

For more information on the health benefits of exercise, order our Special Health Report, Exercise: A program you can live with, at www.health.harvard.edu/E.

Harvard Medical School’s Harvard Health Publication, May, 2009

————————————————————————————————-“Tai Chi & Qigong will play an important role in global awakening.”